Mock exam, free and unofficial
A1 Movers
A1 Movers is the second of the three Cambridge exams for young learners (after Pre A1 Starters, before A2 Flyers), for children of about 8 to 11. These mock exams follow the reading parts of its Reading and Writing paper, with a timer, instant marking and an explanation for every answer. Results are shields, as on the real certificate.
- Reading
- 25 min
- Results
- 1 to 5 shields
- Reading questions
- 29
Reading
Parts 1 to 5 of the official paper in 25 minutes: definitions to match to words, a conversation, a story with missing words and a title to choose, a factual text with three options per gap, and a story with sentences to complete.
| Part | Task | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Definitions: match each definition to the right word from the list | 5 |
| 2 | Conversation: choose the best reply to what the other person says | 6 |
| 3 | Gapped story: choose the missing words, then the best name for the story | 6 |
| 4 | Multiple-choice cloze: choose the word that fits each gap in a text | 5 |
| 5 | Story: complete sentences with a few words taken from the story | 7 |
What is not included
The official paper ends with Part 6, where the child writes sentences about a big picture. That part needs the picture and a human marker, so it is not in this mock, and the clock is 25 minutes instead of the official 30.
How it is scored
Cambridge reports young learners results as 1 to 5 shields per paper, with no pass or fail and no scale score. Cambridge publishes no mark boundaries, so here the shields are estimated from the share of correct answers: 5 shields from 85%, 4 from 70%, 3 from 50% and 2 from 30%. With 4 or 5 shields, Cambridge says a child is ready to prepare for the next exam.
These are unofficial estimates produced by this tool. They help you see progress, but they do not predict your result in a real exam.
What to practise
- Read all the words in the list before you choose: in Parts 1 and 3 some words are there only to confuse you.
- In Part 5, copy the words exactly as they are in the story and never write more than three.
- In Part 4, read the whole sentence first: the three words often look alike, and the sentence tells you which one fits.
Practise A1 Movers against the clock: the timer is kept by our server, so it behaves like the real thing.